Customer Reviews

False Colours

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read and loved a few Georgette Heyer novels and each novel is better than the last one I'd read. The last Heyer novel I read was Sprig Muslin and it was one of the best Regency novels I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Well, False Colours is my new favorite novel by this wonderful author. False Colours tells the story of a young army officer who visits his home after he gets the unsettling feeling that his twin brother, the Earl of Denville, is in some kind of trouble. When he arrives to his family's London home, he discovers that his twin brother has been missing for over a week. Kit is forced to attend a soiree in which he will ask for a young woman's hand in marriage. Things get complicated when his brother's intended fancies herself in love with this much nicer, more charming fiance, but he cannot stop the charade because a marriage has to take place in order to pay for his mother's many gambling debts. But what will happen to Kit and Cressy? Will they fall in love? And what of Kit's twin brother? What transpires is a story of mistaken identity with plenty of laughs and unexpected surprises. There are various twists throughout the novel.

This has got to be one of the funniest novels ever written! Heyer's humor is priceless. The characters are hilarious and quirky and their one-liners are wonderful. The novel is written in the form of a Regency comic farce with oddball situations and colorful characters that characterize this brand of comedy. I love Kit's mother! She sort of reminds me of Pride and Prejudice's Mrs. Bennett. And I love the humor centered on the valets, butlers, grooms and other servants. Theirs is the kind of quirkiness and nosiness that I imagine existed among the servants at their masters' homes. Brilliant! But what I love the most is Kit. It is so refreshing to read about a hero who is neither a misogynist, a rake or a tortured soul (though I do like the latter). He is just a sweet, intelligent, serious, honorable and handsome man who loves his family. Cressy, the heroine, is also wonderful, but less "spirited" than other Heyer heroines. As for the historical aspects and references, I have commented on the author's eye for historical detail and accuracy in the other reviews I've written of her work, but I am again impressed with her ability to create Regency England as I'm sure the aforementioned time period had been. She is by far the only Regency romance writer who is almost 100% faithful to the period in not only writing precise details and descriptions but also with the language. I get so tired of reading characters in historical novels that sound more like modern-day, twenty-something-year-old people smacking gum while uttering the latest slang words and phrases. Heyer was an early to mid twentieth century writer, which is probably why her novels sound classic (and they are in fact classics), but I feel that some of today's historical writers should get their clues from this wonderful author. False Colours is a gem and I cannot recommend this hilarious, romantic novel enough.

In Regency England, a younger son/army officer, Kit, travels home upon the feeling that something has happened to his twin brother, the Earl of Denville. He finds his charming and scatterbrained mother worried to death, as Denville has been absent from home for 10 days; this very night, Denville is to go to a family party at the home of his soon-to-be intended wife in order to obtain the consent of her eccentric and sharp-tongued grandmother. The mother, while not wanting Denville to sacrifice himself on the altar of a marriage of convenience, nevertheless is anxious for the marriage, as Denville's trustees will release his fortune to him upon his marriage; this will allow her extravagant debts to be paid. Kit is persuaded to take Denville's place just for this one night in order that Cressy, the lovely and kind young lady in question, is not dealt the unforgiveable insult of Denville's absence from the "engagement" party.

Complications and fiascos ensue, supported by a multitude of minor characters.......grooms, former nannys, butlers, valets, elderly suitors......that spring fully to life with witty dialog through Heyer's pen. It is to be expected that Kit (as Denville) and Cressy fall in love; she can't imagine why she likes him so much better now than before! It needs only Denville's return, with his arm in a sling, to further complicate this funny and heartwarming story.

I discovered Georgette Heyer in about 1970 and this is still one of my favorites. The mother of the twins is one of those charming shatterbrains that Heyer characterizes so well, complete with all the wonderfully tangled circumstances into which she has embroiled herself. Kit, the twin who forms the main part of the story, is the underplayed hero - younger son, serious, willing to step in for his missing twin to help save his brother's engagement. Then of course there's the fiance and her dragon of a grandmother. Heyer froth at its best! Winning characters, unexpected situations, and denouments that keep you guessing.

This is Georgette Heyer at her best ! We have a gentleman who is pulled into the most shocking masquerade because of his loving mama. And so he proceeds to woo his brothers finacee, only to find that she prefers him. And he can't 'fess up, because his mothers gambling debts have to be paid with the settlement. The entire mess unfolds, with perfect Heyer elan, witty dialogue, and and excellent cast of characters!

It's a pleasure to read about heros who don't think it normal to fight duels, or abduct maidens, and heroines who have a sense of humour. A wonderfully pragmatic couple in the most unusual circumstances. A light hearted romance that leaves you smiling for the rest of the day.

This is Georgette Heyer at her best ! We have a gentleman who is pulled into the most shocking masquerade because of his loving mama. And so he proceeds to woo his brothers finacee, only to find that she prefers him. And he can't 'fess up, because his mothers gambling debts have to be paid with the settlement. The entire mess unfolds, with perfect Heyer elan, witty dialogue, and and excellent cast of characters!

It's a pleasure to read about heros who don't think it normal to fight duels, or abduct maidens, and heroines who have a sense of humour. A wonderfully pragmatic couple in the most unusual circumstances. A light hearted romance that leaves you smiling for the rest of the day.

This is one of Georgette Heyer's finest books-a take of a twin brother forced by his mother's debts and his brother's disappearance into a masquerade. For romance fans-it's a must read... just not on Kindle. The editing is possibly the worst I've ever seen. Paragraphs aren't indented, words are split up willy nilly and there are pages that appear to be one run on sentence. I spent good money on a book that's almost impossible to read in this form.

Buy the paperback-not the Kindle version of this book.

I've been a Heyer fan since my teens, and I attempted to re-read this book recently. I could not finish it. After about 130 pages I figured I had better ways to spend my time and put it down. First of all, the interaction between the hero and heroine was almost non-existent while the mother/son interaction was entirely too prominent. Secondly, it seemed like Heyer repeated herself quite a few times in the 100+ pages I did read, and I found myself skimming paragraphs of dialogue that I felt I'd already read.

For those reading Heyer for the first time I'd recommend one of her other books, like Sylvester, The Nonesuch, or Frederica. She really is a brilliant author but, in my opinion, this is not one of her better works.

It is so well read, my copy has fallen apart. I keep hoping it will be reissued. The story is lovely, funny and the characters are very enjoyable. Kit is the nice brother, and his twin is missing. All the other characters add spice and life to this well-told tale. Their mother is a riot!

Since Georgette Heyer is the renowned queen of the Regency romance, I don't quite know how I missed her back in my Regency-reading days 20 or so years ago. I have really only just discovered her books in the last year or so, and have purchased several to try. False Colours is only the second of Heyer's Regencies that I have read (so far I have mostly read her historicals), so I obviously don't know how it compares to others in her vast repertoire. What I can say is that it is a light, lively and humorous romance.

The main male character, Christopher "Kit" Fancot, leaves his military assignment in Vienna and returns home unannounced to London because he has a strong, intuitive feeling that something is wrong with his identical twin Evelyn. He arrives to find his mother desperately worried because Evelyn has been missing for two weeks, and is supposed to have dinner the next evening with his fiance's family and meet her formidable grandmother, on whose verdict their whole engagement depends. Evelyn's marriage to Cressy Stavely will bring an influx of money into the family, which is desperately needed to pay their spendthrift and irresponsible mother's large debts. The twins' mother, Lady Danville, is frantic that Evelyn won't return home in time for the dinner, the engagement will therefore be called off, and she will face drastic and dire financial straits. She persuades Kit to take his brother's place at the dinner the following evening.

Needless to say, Kit's reluctant agreement to impersonate his brother for one evening snowballs into a much larger deception; the more Kit tries to pull away and pull out of it, the deeper he becomes entangled. What follows is an engaging story full of entertaining characters. Although it was obvious early on that Kit was going to fall in love with Cressy (his twin's fiance), what was not at all clear -- until the last couple of pages -- was how it was all going to work out. Would Evelyn return, and when? How would Kit get himself out of the increasingly tangled web of deceit he was weaving himself into?

Heyer's writing is strong, and her knowledge of the Regency period makes for a wonderful and historically solid setting. She uses Regency slang with a heavy hand, although it is usually not too difficult to figure out from the context what is being said. The main characters -- Kit and Cressy -- are immensely likeable. They are the two level-headed, kind and sensible people in a cast full of eccentric characters. Lady Danville is a wonderful character, beautiful, charming and childishly irresponsible; and yet, under her frothy and fluffy exterior lies a sharp and subtle mind that always manages to get others to do what she wants.

Other reviewers have commented on the excessive use of exclamation points, and I did notice that myself right off the bat. However, once I sunk into the story they were less noticeable. I do think that Heyer's over-use of exclamation points was, in part, a way of emphasizing the breathless and excitable quality of Lady Danville's speech; she was the most "frequent offender" and, in the one very serious scene she has with Cressy near the end of the book, her speech uses very few exclamation points.

It is easy to see why Georgette Heyer is the queen of the Regency; if this is a period that interests you, then you can't go wrong with one of her books.

One of the 'younger' romances Heyer wrote. It starts with Kit who has just returned to London unexpectedly trying to rouse his brother from his house - it is all closed up and Kit has to break in only to find out from his mother that his twin brother, the Earl of Denville, has been missing for a days and no one knows where. Suspecting that he has fled simply because he is a bit of a tearaway they realise that they must buy time to find out whedre he has gone. This would not normally be a problem only the Earl has just become betrothed, a match for money not love, and the finances are needed for the family.

Kit agrees to masquerade as his brother, reluctantly - and meets Cressy - his brother's betrothed. Confusion and layers of deception are heaped on one another. There are a cast of great characters to back everything up - amongst them the Dowager Lady Denville - a ditsy character to rival the best that Bridget Jones can dish out - and sir Bonamy, her somewhat overweight but very kind admirer.

A nice contrast of ridiculous and serious, a well balanced and complex novel with enough comedy and romance to keep everyone happy. Mostly younger characters but mature romance too.